Pregame prediction UCLA looks to get back on track versus Duke

UCLA is back tonight on Thanksgiving for the Players Era Women’s Championship for game two. Yesterday afternoon the Bruins suffered their first loss of the season to No. 4 Texas. A game in which Texas controlled from the start. Ultimately pulling away with a 22-point lead. UCLA was able to cut it to four late and showed good fight. But the girls ran out of gas and Texas was just too much to handle.

Tonight, they look to get back on track against the Duke Blue Devils. UCLA at 6-1 is the far superior team as Duke sits at 3-4 on the season. UCLA controlled most of the stats against Texas. Better field goal percentage, more rebounds and more paint points. But then you notice that UCLA turned the ball over 20 times, and you see the difference. They were not able to recover from that and that plays right into Texas strength. They are a team that forces you into mistakes and gets out in transition and they overwhelmed the Bruins.

Duke is not close to the opponent that Texas is, and UCLA should be able to dominate in most facets of the game. Duke has shooting splits of 41/32.6/63.8 and can go cold sometimes. Their leading scorer is sophomore Toby Fournier at 15.6 per game. Their senior guard Taina Mair leads the charge with an all-around game of 11.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. Duke played No. 2 South Carolina well for three of four quarters yesterday. But couldn’t recover from being outscored 26-12 in the second quarter.

This is a perfect bounce back matchup for the UCLA Bruins. They have the advantage almost at every position. They have some momentum from yesterday‘s second half. As they outscored Texas 40-31. But a 45-25 deficit at half was too much to overcome. UCLA comes into this game as 13.5-point favorites. This is a game where Kiki Rice and Gianna Kneepkens can dominate their matchups and that duo will push them here. Look for the Bruins to leave Vegas with a 7-1 record on the season.

Prediction: UCLA 75 - Duke 61